New campus is projected to ultimately serve as many as 15,000 students

September 8, 2015

Blinn College officials presented the Board of Trustees with a preliminary glimpse of the master plan currently in development for the College’s new Bryan campus.

In February, Blinn purchased 95 acres of land at the intersection of F.M. 2818 and Leonard Road in Bryan for the development of a second Brazos County campus. Blinn plans to develop this land into a 10,000–15,000 student campus to complement the College’s pre-existing Bryan campus on Villa Maria Road. The additional campus will allow Blinn to develop additional science, technology, engineering and mathematics offerings and expand its workforce, technical, research and health-related education programs.

The master plan draft, developed in partnership with Kirksey Architecture, includes a first-phase building designed to service 2,500 students, along with plans for associated amenities such as parking, security and recreational and study space.

The proposed plan calls for the multi-phased development of seven academic buildings, three amenity buildings and as many as 6,000 parking spaces, including more than 1,000 spaces in Phase 1 of the project.

As proposed, Phase 1 has a preliminary $35 million budget and would accommodate approximately 2,500 students with one amenity building and an academic building that would include eight labs and 18 classrooms.

The campus design would also incorporate three ponds currently on the property as part of the natural landscaping.
“There is a lot of natural beauty – ponds, flora, large oak trees – that are important to us in laying out the campus,” said Steve Durham of Kirksey Architects. “How can we use the topography and the beauty that’s already there and incorporate those into our campus design?”

The completed plan will be presented to the board in November.

Blinn announced record enrollment of 19,317 students last Fall, and has experienced 37.5 percent enrollment growth since 2006. Previous master planning efforts indicate that Blinn’s growth will continue due to the College’s strong academic reputation and its partnerships with Texas A&M, Baylor, Sam Houston State and Texas State universities, and the universities of Texas and Houston.

The board also heard public comments regarding the proposed tax rate of $0.0601 per $100 valuation. The proposed tax rate is almost identical to the $0.06 per $100 valuation Washington County residents paid in 2013. It would equate to approximately $60.10 in annual taxes on a $100,000 home and would yield just under $1.8 million in revenue. Property tax revenue pays for a portion of the Brenham campus maintenance and utility costs.

Should the proposed rate be adopted, Blinn is expected to maintain the lowest tax rate in the state.

About Blinn College
A comprehensive community college committed to educational excellence and to individual and community enhancement, Blinn College has served its 13-county Central Texas region since 1883. With an enrollment of 19,317 students, Blinn ranks among the nation’s leaders in transferring students to leading four-year universities and has received national recognition for affordable educational excellence.

Blinn offers job seekers the skills and credentials they need to succeed in the region’s fast-growing industries, and partners with local businesses to provide skills development training for incumbent employees. Each year, Blinn programs and students make a $345.3 million impact on the local economy.